By this time three classes of the C. L. S. C. had been graduated, '82, '83, and '84. Four more classes were pursuing the course, so that C. L. S. C. members present at Chautauqua might now be counted by the thousand. There was a strong class-spirit. Each class had its name, its motto, its badge, and its banner, and ribbon badges were fluttering everywhere. Every day came announcements from the platform of class-meetings, and it was sometimes difficult to provide for them all. During the season of 1884 two classes united their interests, raised money, and purchased a small octagonal building near the Hall of Philosophy. These were the classes of '83 and '85. The movement for class headquarters was growing; all the other classes began the raising of building funds, and those who looked into the future saw all around St. Paul's Grove the prospect of small buildings rising. How would the grounds appear when forty classes should have little headquarters—a C. L. S. C. village? The plan began to be mooted of a Union Class Building, to be realized later.
CHAPTER XV
THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG AND OTHER TRUE TALES
(1885-1888)
The twelfth year of the Assembly, 1885, opened with a preliminary week, beginning July 7th, for the Teachers' Retreat and the School of Languages, and closed with "After-week," making the entire session fifty-three days long, ending on August 28th. But the official "opening" did not take place until the traditional date, Tuesday, August 7th. For years, indeed from the beginning, Dr. Vincent had set his heart on having a chime of bells at Chautauqua. The practically minded trustees urged for some needed improvement, and buildings for the growing schools, but the poetic conception carried the day, and in 1885 the Meneely chime of ten bells was heard at the opening in July. Some common souls in cottages around complained of their frequency, awaking folks early in the morning and breaking their naps in the afternoon, but to most their mellow music was a welcome sound.
It has always been the rule that quiet must reign on the grounds after the night bells at 10:00 P.M., and watchmen have been wont to knock at doors where the rule was honored in the breach instead of the observance. A parlor full of young people enjoying themselves does not always come to silence in a minute. I remember one house near the Point where dwelt an elderly lady with abundant gray hair but a young heart, and also with an attractive daughter. That home was exceedingly popular among the younger set, and their meetings—doubtless held for the discussion of serious subjects, for the voices were sometimes loud—were often prolonged beyond the time of the bells. One night an unusually imperative rap of the watchman's stick on the front door startled the group. The door was opened a little and the matron put forth her head with the words loudly spoken, "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head!" whereupon the watchman departed without a word.
In the revolution of the Chautauqua Circle, 1885 was known as the Roman year, having as its major subject Latin history and literature. The studies of the "Foreign Tour" in the Assembly program embraced lectures, with illustrations on Italian cities and scenery. Dr. Vincent's fertile mind conceived a plan to aid the students of the course, and incidentally to advertise it, by a series of object-lessons. He divided Pratt Avenue, the path leading up to the college on the hill, into sections corresponding by their relative lengths to the periods of Roman history, and erected at the proper points along the road, posts to commemorate the leading events, with dates and names of the great men of the several periods. These milestones were black, with inscriptions in white. As people passed by they would be reminded of the leading facts in the story of the Eternal City. Often might be seen members of the C. L. S. C., notebook in hand, storing their minds with the dates and events in the annals of Rome. The coal-black pillars had a somewhat sepulchral look and suggested a graveyard. One lady who was a stranger at Chautauqua, and evidently not a member of the C. L. S. C., asked Dr. R. S. Holmes, one of the leading workers, "Can you tell me why all these tombstones have been set up here. Surely all the men named on them cannot be buried along this street!" The question was also asked if it was proposed each year to set up a row of trophies on other streets for the American year, the English year, the Greek year, and by degrees to turn all Chautauqua into a memorial grove for great men and great deeds of all the ages; but at the close of the season the monuments were gathered up and carried away, leaving no successors.
The lecture platform of 1885 was as strong as ever. Dr. Charles F. Deems of New York delivered the baccalaureate sermon on Sunday, August 16th, an unique discourse on the short text, "One New Man" (Eph. 2:15), and the Recognition Address on the following Wednesday was by Dr. E. E. Hale of Boston. A special series of "Yale University Historical Lectures" was given by Professor Arthur M. Wheeler. Bishop Cyrus D. Foss of the Methodist Episcopal Church preached on Sunday, August 23d. Dr. John P. Newman delivered a lecture on August 25th in memory of President U. S. Grant, of whom he had been a friend and pastor. This year a young man made his first appearance upon the Chautauqua platform, not yet as a lecturer, but introducing speakers in felicitous sentences and presiding with the ease of an experienced chairman. This was Mr. George Edgar Vincent, just graduated from Yale University, from whom Chautauqua and the world in general was to hear before many years.
In 1885, the institution received a new charter from the Legislature of New York, giving it the name "Chautauqua University" and the power to confer degrees. By vote of the Board, the title "Chancellor of the Chautauqua University" was given to Dr. Vincent. It was hoped to establish a college for study by correspondence, with reviews of the subjects taught in the summer meeting. But the expense of a professional staff was great and the number of students was not large enough to support it without an endowment. The Chautauqua University might have won a place in the world of education, if friends had been found to bestow upon it a liberal endowment, but among the varied gifts of Dr. Vincent was not that peculiar talent for raising money. The University did not prosper, and in 1898 the Trustees voluntarily surrendered to the Regents of the University of the State of New York the examination of candidates and the conferring of degrees. Again the title was changed and the University became "The Chautauqua System of Education."